"I almost fired my agent Ari [Emanuel] over [Fifty Shades]-not because I wanted to play the part. We were aware of the book from very early on, and we were close to securing the rights, and then we get into this bidding war."

Adding, "We were so close to having [it]. That was one of the few times I was going to fire Ari."

The current producer of the film, Michael De Luca, was also taking part in the discussion and joked that the lead role "looks a lot like Mark Wahlberg". Wahlberg quickly quipped back, "No, sounds like Brad Pitt to me."

The 'PAIN & Gain' actor also mentioned Pitt again when he explained why he got into producing films, "I wanted to produce because I was never going to get the script first," Mark said. "I had to wait for Brad Pitt to pass."